Okay, so yeah I was away from SEN for a while, but I'm back now. So, rumor has it that a lot of people are getting concerned about a change log for 1.04 and here's the deal: I'm not giving you one.
Why? Simple. People are going to see numbers they disagree with, nerfs they think are not needed, etc, and they are going to cry. This will distract us from obtaining the highest level of balance HS can reach. Now, I dunno about you guys, but I'd be pretty embarrassed if I made a PvP map and had it under production for over a year... over 18 months... over 9000 versions only to have it STILL be so far from balance. Now, I'm not saying that this happens, but it could and yeah, I'd imagine that somewhere out there there is a PvP map that has been around for a long time and fits that description. Rest assured, it isn't HS.
Hero Sanct is like the son that I never had that will one day be replaced by a human son that I take to metal concerts. (no offense to you, map). The point is that I kinda care about this map, and I want to take it to it's highest potential. I want the people who play HS (you guys) to have something to be proud of. Be all like "Yeah, well the game I play is balance and intense!" Sure, no one says that, but you might want to think it without having to doubt yourself. I'll try to accommodate.
Well, I know I told you I wasn't going to give you a change log - and I'm not REALLY giving you a complete one, but I will list what changed from 1.03.
• Nerfed some chars that were too strong: Nin, Sam, Psycho, RM, CW.
• G. Skeletons now have 6 armor.
• AI now gains ~5 seconds of detection when changing into [V] form.
• Necromancer now has a 11%chance to not gain minerals from a sacrifice using the altar.
• Cloaking now costs 200energy.
• Irradiate now costs ~140energy.
• Reduced trigger count by 2. (Every little bit counts)
• Re-ordered the conditions of approx. 120 triggers to maximum efficiency (don't even know if this helps lag or not but...)
• Changed Force 4 to say the correct version and release date.
THERE! I tried to omit exact numbers and comparisons to prevent the tears from people who got their favorite character nerfed. I'm sorry, but it had to be done. (There was no other way!!!) Now, I hope you guys can enjoy 1.04 for me =). By the looks of things, there will probably be a 1.05 somewhere down the road, but not any time soon. Thanks again to people who took care of my map's showcase while I was gone.
I think i figured out why your game felt odd to me, and of course i may be wrong, but i do believe this is at least somewhat on.
It has no yomi. I would expect you, wanting your game to be balanced and fun, to know what yomi is. However, for those that dont, I will explain.
Yomi is by definition the ability to read your opponents mind, yomi has layers, and in the best of games, three.
Yomi layer 1: Strong move
Yomi layer 2: Counter.
Yomi layer 3: Counter to the counter
There is no need for yomi layer 4 because at this point you can use the original move again.
The reason i feel there is no yomi in this game is choices that could be yomi (armor attack, grabbing life quickly or spells, alalalala) only happen during early game, due to my other problem, levelling, which nobody seemed to care about. (and i still feel is imbalanced)
and ingame (as in a fight) i don't feel there is any yomi becuase fights will normally be something like.
Approach (if you know hes there and your planning it) use move.
Reaction (if you havent used a move this is where the most yomi would happen, although its either pull your best(best as in move that best fits the situation) move or GTFO normally.)
Reaction is either expected and countered/outlasted, or unexpected and ran away from/died too. It normally repeats here.
The only reason i dont believe this is yomi is that it there is no reading, you know what your opponent is going to do as its whats best in that situation.
As CW at night, im going to either eclipse approach cape (times how much i have mana for it) and end with CoC, or im going to not use eclipse or CoC, or forgo eclipse or CoC. Now this is all easily readable. Do you suddenly go blind without any warning? Thats eclipse. Do I spam 52 dragoons that fill up the top of the screen with my colour (better players may not do this when spamming cape, however you dont really need to read a CoC, as it doesnt change much(now that it doesnt hit through summons), it allows me to run away and deal damage, but not much else in the way of countering except escaping players who have only short ranged moves or cant keep me in place.
In games like TS this is more but less apparent, in that spells come one by one, and many things are counterable. In the mutant vs warrior matchup (assuming 1v1, it gets more complex as more team fights occur, but i rarely see teamfights in HS and therefore cannot say anything. (this may be due to my lack of experience, idk.)
Warrior wins obviously in the first fight, but this first fight is shallow and probably being changed (night starting) so yeah. As soon as one of them gets l2, mutant wins with perfect spacing, or warrior wins with melee range cast. If they both have l2, yomi comes into play
Warrior l2'd me, i will l2. (Warrior gets away/dies, or somethinig else happens so he knows you have l2)
Warrior is going to l2 me if i approach, but i will l2 to counter him.
But waht if he walks away? or casts l1 while staying there and then walks away after i cast, only to come back and l2 me?
But if i dont l2, he will just do a ton of damage and can l2 me as i run away.
Although mainly the last statement is ruined by latency, it's viable.
This is yomi in AoS. I dont feel this in HS because spells dont seem to have that much of a downside most of the time. M&M ult has a downside, yes... I cant think of any other spells.
As for spells in TS that have a downside and therefore make them counterable... Sin l1,l4. Mutant l2,l3,l4. Warrior l2,l3,l4. DM l1,l2, l3&l4 have SMALL ones. Medic l1,l4. Assault l1,l2,l3,l4.
Need I go on?
DISCLAIMER (Cause norm likes to hate on me)
I'm not trying to be mean, I want your game to be balanced, Norm. I do believe most of this to be true, as it bases off of stuff i do have a grasping of. If anything is glaringly wrong, i am sorry. After thinking about this i cant find anything that wrong. If something doesnt make sense, i'll gladly explain.
None.